A/N Hey all! It's been so long since I've updated this. Jeez. I apologize greatly for this... My summer has been so crazy, and I had a huge writers block. :( I almost considered discontinuing this story. But I'm back! Yay! I hope you enjoy chapter 10~

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits basket or Gakuen Alice. Just this storyline and my OCs in the story. :)

Mikan's POV

I decided to be sick in the morning. "Hotaru, I'm not feeling well…" I graned, trying to look pathetic.

Hotaru rolled her eyes. "Baka. You're not sick. Get up," she ordered.

"But—!"

She whacked me on the side of the head. I yelped and fell out of bed.

"W-what was that for?" I yelled, clutching my head.

"For lying. And being lazy. Get dressed. If you're not out of this room in five minutes, I'm coming in with my baka gun," Hotaru said coldly and left the room.

I grumbled and muttered curses at Hotaru under my breath as I obeyed her orders. I knew better than to mess with Hotaru in the morning.

I pulled on Tohru's high school uniform – it smelled of Tohru, which wasn't an unpleasant scent. It reminded me of summer and fresh air.

Taking a deep breath, I looked at myself in the full body mirror. It was freaky how much I resembled Tohru, even with my hair up.

Oh crap. My hair. I groaned but I knew Tohru would never wear this style of hair, so I took out my beloved pigtails. This is probably the worst part of high school. At least, let's hope that's the case. I thought, biting my lip.

I glanced at the girl in the mirror one last time before leaving and heading out to the kitchen. Natsume, Hotaru, Yuki, and Kyo were eating breakfast on the new table. Or at least, they had been – they were all finished. Had I really slept in that late?

"Oh, you're up. Too bad, since I haven't used my baka gun in a while," she glanced at the self made weapon at her side. "Oh well."

Kyo and Natsume were pointedly ignoring each other at opposite ends of the table, while Yuki looked like he was still half asleep. Shigure poked his head in from his office and said, "Good morning, Sakura-san – or Honda-san, should I say?" He winked and then disappeared into his office again.

I sighed for about the thousandth time that morning and sat down. I took measly bites of my breakfast[which I didn't taste at all] and fidgeted nonstop with my hair until it was time to go.

As we headed outside and onto the sidewalk, I found myself glancing periodically at Natsume. I didn't remember a thing about last night – what had happened? I know I had fallen asleep while studying, but when I woke up I was in the guest room[aka Natsume's room]. How did that happen? And where did Natsume sleep?

Thankfully, Yuki stopped that train of thought. "Come on, guys. We're already later than we should be," he said, looking at his watch.

On the way, we ran into Tohru's best friends – almost literally. Yuki had been walking and looking at his watch, and almost ran into the black haired friend's back.

"Oh! Sorry, Hanajima-san," he exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head embarrassedly.

She nodded vaguely, then turned to look - no, stare - at me, which sent shivers up my spine.

Geez, what kind of people does Tohru hang out with?

The blond grinned at me widely, and I smiled back cheerfully, hopefully masking my true feelings of pure terror.

"Hey, Tohru! Still living with these bozos? I hope they're treating you all right. Riiiiight, Mr. Prince?" she half growled, getting up close to Yuki with a skeptical frown.

"You know we take very good care of her, Uotani-san," Yuki reassured, backing up a little.

Uotani sighed and turned away from Yuki.

"Let's get a move on! We're already plenty late, thank you!" Kyo suddenly growled, marching past us with an irritated air.

"What a butt," Uotani muttered, but she followed suit and continued to walk toward school.

On the way we introduced Natsume and Hotaru to Tohru's friends, which went fairly well. We said they were temporary exchange students from Hokkaido. Natsume said the usual "hn," and Hotaru gave a polite but monotonous greeting and that was it.

At one point[around the time I was wondering exactly why we were walking here], I realized Uotani was looking at me weird. Suddenly a little panicky, I cocked my head[seems like something Tohru would do] and asked, "What?"

"Oh, nothing, I just realized you looked a little different today. Like... younger or something. Did you take youth cream last night? I didn't know those things worked that well, especially on people like you who don't need them!" she explained, laughing a little.

I giggled, hopefully not too nervous sounding. "Oh, no... I must have had a good night sleep or something," I suggested.

Hanajima studied me for a moment, making me even more nervous. I probably would've peed my pants[or shall I say skirt?] had she not looked away a second later.

"So, uh, Tohru. That cute Hyuuga kid. Is he your boyfriend or something?" Uotani whispered, nudging my side.

My first reaction to this sentence? Thank God I have an extra uniform to change into.

"W-wh-what? N-no! Boyfriend? No. He's just a, uh, friend, um, um-!" I stammered, blushing madly.

Uotani started cracking up. "Ahh, Tohru, you don't have to take me so seriously! I was just asking. Don't have a heart attack," she laughed, patting me roughly on the back.

Well, too late for the heart attack thing, but oh well. I turned to catch Natsume's expression, and he had his poker face on, but I knew he heard it. Ah, but why would I care. I don't know. I don't care. At all. Yep.

Finally we arrived at the school and hurried in. I prayed we wouldn't have to do some dirty work in order to get Hotaru and Natsume in the school.

When we got to the desk, however, it looked like Shigure had done some work for us.

"The two temporary transfer students are here today as well... Hyuuga Natsume and Imai Hotaru, am I correct?" the nondescript secretary said, peering over her glasses. Hotaru and Natsume nodded, both looking so enthusiastic.

She checked us all in and we rushed out the door. I grabbed some schedules secretively, just in case.

I glanced down at my watch and almost crapped my pants.(about the almost wetting and crapping my pants: Is it just me or am I seeing a pattern here?)

Yuki hurried us down the corridor. "Geez, I have never been this late before. Let's get a move on!" he said urgently.

So begins the day. So far so good! Maybe it'll stay that way.

Of course, it didn't stay that way. Of course not. What more could I have expected?

Guess where I was? I was in the girls' bathroom during a class. No, I wasn't playing hooky in some lame way. Here's what happened in a nutshell: I was daydreaming about some land, far far away when I was jolted out of my lovely dream by a rude teacher. He was like(although not his exact words), "I asked you a question! Now stop having fun and answer it!" and since I didn't hear it, I asked if he could repeat it. So he did. But guess what! The raven haired I-DI-OT who sat NEXT to me for some STU-PID reason, was smirking. At me. Dang. It. He. Ticked. Me. Off. So anyway, I didn't hear the question, the teacher noticed that I hadn't heard it, and said something like, "Well, apparently you have more feelings for this guy than your grades." Then he gave me DETENTION. I could've just accepted it. I probably deserved it. But Mikan took over and shouted, "What? But, that's not fair! First of all, I don't like this idiot. Second of all, it was his fault! He was laughing at me!" The whole class[except for that raven haired freak and Hotaru] gave me bug eyes. Mr. Raven Haired Know-It-All was shaking his head slightly, and I think I still saw him smirking. Ooooh, that did NOT help at all. I let out a little frustrated "Argh!" and stormed out of the classroom without another thought.

So here I am, contemplating my fate and how much I fail at life and how much I hate Na- I mean the Raven Haired Freak.

Really, though, I just hoped I hadn't ruined it all for everyone.

After a while, Uotani burst into the bathroom. She caught sight of me sitting on the sink and let out a sigh of relief.

"Tohru! Wa-ow! I never knew you had it in you!" she exclaimed with a quick grin. It disappeared, however, when she sat on the counter beside me. "But seriously. Are you okay?" she asked, looking at me with concerned eyes.

I nodded, but I buried my face in my hands, feeling stressed and unsure what to tell her. "I-I don't know what got into me... but I'm okay," I said, but I didn't take my face from my hands.

Uotani nodded. "I guess everyone has to have those moments, even you. It wasn't even that bad of a blow up, really, we were just surprised, since, you know... you're Tohru, the obedient one," Uotani laughed.

I managed to look up and smile a little, but my insides were clenching. Uotani didn't know jack.

I almost wished I could tell Uotani the truth. Some part of me detested lying to Uotani and everyone else. At this point, I was almost considering telling the truth... but I knew it wouldn't help anything in the end. Besides, Hotaru and Natsume would probably give me a horrible death if I made all their suffering for nothing. They were getting so much attention because of their stony silence and somewhat mysterious air. Like usual. And apparently it irritated them. I decided to postpone thinking about this until I was in a better mood.

"Hey, Tohru," Uotani asked suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"Tell me the truth. What is your relationship with that black haired boy?"

My eyebrows rose with surprise. Not this question. I knew there were already some rumors flying around about Natsume and I being together. That ticked me off, but Natsume found it amusing from what I could tell.

"What do you think?" I replied vaguely, wondering why she of all people would ask that question.

"Uhh... I don't know, that's why I was asking," she replied. After a moment Uotani shrugged. "Well, it's none of my business anyway. Let's go."

We walked down the main corridor, which was slowly thinning of people due to the fact it was lunchtime already.

At one intersection of corridors,, I heard a voice - a familiar voice, coming from a hallway. I frowned, since it was a dark and secluded hallway that the voice came from.

I glanced at Uotani and said, "Hey, you go on a head of me and save a seat for me. I, er, need to, uh, check something really quick. I think I might've forgotten something."

She looked like she was about to protest for a second, but she shrugged and nodded. "Okay. But if you aren't at our table in like ten minutes, I'm coming to get you." She then walked off without another word.

I waited until she was completely gone before proceeding down the hall. Halfway down, I saw where the voice - no, voices - were coming from.

It was Natsume. Natsume and another random girl that was actually very pretty. And you know what?

They were kissing.

Natsume's POV

Mikan! I thought frantically. I shoved away the idiot girl who had practically tried to undress me.

The girl narrowed her eyes at Mikan and said venomously, "Tohru Honda - the goody two shoes. You here to steal Natsu-kun from me too? Aren't you happy with Yuki-kun and Kyo-kun?"

I personally had no idea what she meant, but I didn't care about that. What I did care about was the fact that Mikan/Tohru looked on the verge of tears; whether from rage or sadness or shock was still TBD.

Mikan was about to say something when her expression changed, like she had composed herself. She just sent a nasty glare worthy of myself and stormed off.

After I got out of my own shock, I turned to glare at the girl myself. Obviously, she didn't get the message. She fluttered her eyes at me(was that supposed to make her look attractive?) and murmured, "Now where were we?"

"Get off me," I growled, pushing her away.

"Natsu-kun, don't bother with her! Stay with me!" she pleaded.

"Get. Off. Me. I don't like you. Get it?" I spat. I then turned away without another word, heading after Mikan(wherever she might be).

I wondered what she thought, seeing me with that girl. Probably nothing good. I didn't blame her. What was interesting, though, was the fact that Mikan and I weren't together, so it wouldn't be like I was cheating or anything.

Why would she care, then? Despite myself, a small smile tugged at the corners of my lips. Based off of her reaction, this most likely meant she has - or had - some feelings for me.

That thought made my heart rise and fall at the same time. I had always wanted to find out if Mikan had feelings for me deep down, but never like this.

Of course, as soon as I enter the cafeteria, I see her sitting down with Tohru's friends, the Sohmas, and Imai. Apparently she was really good at hiding her feelings, since there were little signs left of her crying - you'd have to be searching for them to notice.

She looked up and our eyes met. Her chocolate gaze narrowed a fraction and turned cold, but then she looked swiftly away.

This made me a little frustrated. Why should she be so angry? Even if she did have feelings for me, we weren't freaking dating! It was like I did something off limits. She must know that I could get a girl too easily if I wanted.(it's the sad truth)

I sighed and headed over there, plopping myself right next to Mikan, because I knew it would piss her off.

Mikan sat down, not even glancing at me, although I knew she noticed me - I could see her right eye twitching. (It always does that when she's angry. I would know.) She began eating quietly, only speaking to the others occasionally.

Hotaru noticed something was out of place and glanced at me swiftly, her gaze questioning. I just shrugged and gave nothing away. Hell would freeze over before I tell her anything.

After about five more minutes, I was out of there. Nothing had changed, and I wasn't hungry, so I got up without saying a word and left.

I headed outside, the warm, sweet spring air welcoming me. I began to consider skipping the rest of school today. It would be a nice break from reality, and I didn't have to worry about suspension or anything, since this school was temporary (not that I would have worried about that at Gakuen Alice, anyway).

I sighed and looked around me. My feet had led me to the fence surrounding the school. Outside was the street, and futher more a nice looking park. Maybe I could take a nap in one of those...

I was about to climb over the fence when a voice stopped me. "Hey! You!"

I turned around slowly, taking in a tallish, sandy haired boy. He grinned at me and said, "Sorry to stop you from skipping school - I know you were about to climb that fence - but we need help with the party preparations. Do you think you could help us?"

"Party preparations?"

He looked surprised for a second, and then realization spread across his face. "Oh yeah, you must be the new exchange student. Welcome! I'm Roy Nakashi." He bowed, then continued, "Our school is having spring bash sort of thing. A lot of schools are doing it, but I guess that's because it's just a great time to have a party." He grinned again. He waited to see if I responded, and when I didn't, he asked, "Now, can you help us? We really would appreciate it."

I sighed, but shrugged. The cheesy grin on Roy's face widened and he motioned for me to follow him. "Come on! I'll show you where the preparation room is."

He led me back inside and into a room full of people milling about. Some were making banners, others hanging things up, and I could hear the clanging of pots and pans in the next room - a kitchen? I was almost impressed.

Roy beamed and turned to me. "So, you can help hang things up. There's a shortage in that department. Thanks!" He then walked away, heading toward a different group of people.

I stood in the entrance for a moment, wondering if I should really help him or not. But before I could decide, I caught sight of a certain Mikan also hanging things up.

That surprised me, but didn't tick me off. No, what ticked me off was the fact that Mikan was on top of a ladder, with Momiji trying to steady the ladder, both of them laughing as she tried to actually hang up a banner without hurting herself.

I guess this was payback, because it certainly got me. I stormed over to where they were, and Mikan instantly caught sight of me. She looked down in disdain, but Momiji smiled at me. "Good afternoon, Hyuuga-san! Did you come to help us?" he asked cheerfully, taking his hand off the ladder to wave at me.

I was about to utter some very colorful words when Mikan screamed. Momiji and I both looked up to see Mikan's ladder falling straight down toward us.

Making a split second decision, I held out my hands and braced the ladder, trying to stop it.

Bad idea. I stopped the ladder, but the sudden stop sent Mikan flying into Momiji.

Oh crap.

A/N Ahahaha. I love cliffhangers. :3 Natsume knows about the secret(he found out in chapter 3) of the zodiac - just in case you forgot(it's been a while ^^;). Well, I hope I can write the next chapter soon... no promises, though, since school is starting soon. I'll try my best~

Sorry, no previews this time. :(

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But a review would be nice instead :DDDDDD I really need some to boost my creativity and confidence for the next chapter. _